Korea Attempts Graffiti Purification

The graffito with the nickname AS Bunny can be seen all over the area of Nowon-gu, a residential district in Seoul. This graffito is found on bus stops, signs, walls and even on chimneys with extreme heights.

“I started seeing AS Bunnies in 2011, around after-school academies,” says Seongju Lee, a sophomore at Youngshin High School. “It is not only seen in Nowon. Once I was visiting COEX, and on the way I saw the AS Bunny. My friend said she saw another one in Anyang, which is not even Seoul! It is said that the AS Bunny is a symbol of a group of runaway teenagers.”

Graffiti can easily be seen around us. In schools, the bathrooms and desks are covered with doodles drawn by students. The walls of coffee shops are often filled with doodles drawn by people who visited there. Some can even be found on cultural assets including the  walls of the ancient Gyeongbokgung Palace.

In a recently graffiti survey, 55% of respondents answered that they have doodled on public facilities before. Among the 55% who answered ‘yes,’ about 30% answered that they wrote messages in order to commemorate their visit.

Some graffiti, like the AS Bunny, represent a group or have a special meaning. Some graffiti have artistic value. Yet much illegal graffiti are simply scribbles of people who are bored. These doodles can cause property damage, especially in public facilities such as schools. Graffiti can even threaten cultural heritage.

That is the reason why some facilities are now letting people honor the memory of their visits in other ways. Namsan Tower, a famous tourist attraction in Seoul, allows people to write messages on locks and lock them on special fences. Some cafes and restaurants chave created various facilities that let people commemorate their visits.

Illegal graffiti are still being drawn by people in various places. However, as the number of ways to doodle increases, the number of illegal graffiti will decrease and perhaps be purified as a new genre of art.